Saturday, September 10, 2016

Our professor calls our class a workshop, when we are critiquing the other students' writing. We had our first workshop this past Thursday. The concept was easy, it was having to read all of that stuff. Each workshop is 5 students, that isn't too bad. The Sunday before class, the student posts his/her writing, we read it and then write a critique of it. Then in class on Thursday, we talk about our critique and hand over a copy to the author.

Two of the five stories were okay and had potential. The other three need to be burned. They were really just boring, had no conflict and certainly did not catch this reader's attention.

My turn is on this Thursday and I'm hoping my writing is better than the others. Or at least it doesn't want to put people to sleep.

Friday, September 2, 2016

In my English 484 class, we had to read and then discuss Carrie by Stephen King. Yeah, I'm 58 years and have never seen the movie nor read the book, Carrie. I've seen bits and pieces of it, but it's not my type of story. I don't read gore/horror. It's a waste of my time, money, and energy.

So, for 2 hours on Thursday night, we had to discuss a disgusting book. I couldn't read past page 28. I did open the book here and there and read what was on that page, but that was the best I could do. I just couldn't read it. I had opened enough correct spots that I could participate in the discussion, but so glad that is over. The best part, there will be no test on the book.

The teacher said he choose Carrie due to the way King decided to present the information. He also admitted to having read the book several times. Not my cup of tea, as they say. Not that anything really is my cup of tea, I don't drink tea. I'm just really glad it's over.

It may be a three day weekend, but I have plenty of homework to do. I hope you have a great weekend, and read something that makes you happy.

Wednesday, August 24, 2016

Monday was the first day of class for Southeastern Louisiana University, Hammond, LA.

For me, my classes are on Tuesday/Thursday during the day, and Thursday night. So, I've been to one class, once. It was really just a"get to know ya" class meeting, so nothing much happened. I am looking forward to a great semester.

We are using McKee's newest book, Dialogue. I've read the first chapter and preface. Not bad. It's the second class that bothers me. We have to read Carrie by Stephen King. I've read the first 28 pages and it's just disgusting. ick...

Friday, August 19, 2016

Hello everyone. Sorry, but school has not started. It was supposed to have started on Wednesday, but it won't start until Monday, August 22, 2016.

I live in Southeast Louisiana, and we received torrential rains a week ago today, that has caused massive flooding. It is so severe, that we, as a state, lost many things.

Just in my parish alone, six people died, and over half of our citizens have lost their homes. Some of my friends have lost everything, while others have lost only vehicles, and still more had no problems at all.

In Denham Springs, close to Baton Rouge, nearly everyone lost their home. Homes have to be gutted down to the bare bones, or completely torn down and built again. Others, have to cut out their walls from just a foot above the floor to several feet above the floor. They will have to be re-dry walled.

We have what is called the Cajun Navy. It is a group of Cajuns who love to go fishing and each have their own boats. When the disaster hit, they got in their boats, and went and rescued people out of their homes. And not just people, they took their animals too.

This is the second severe flooding in this area of Louisiana in less than six months. The rain came down so hard and so fast, that it had nowhere to go. A lot of times, people in this area, don't keep their ditches cleared out of debris, so it is already standing full of water. Other times, like in my neighborhood, just the week before the flooding, the surrounding ditches had been cleaned out. They were ready for the flooding. But did it help? No, it came just too fast and the ditches are small, so flood we did.

I work at Southeastern Louisiana University as an Administrative Assistant. The university got the students who were on campus together, asked them to volunteer to clean up, and they did. Wednesday and Thursday, students went out in groups around our parish and the surrounding area and helped with the recovery effort. They pulled out damaged furniture, carpeting, personal items and whatever else was needed. Then they helped to clean up the homes, and worked in the yard. We are a resilient state, but only so much can be done. We need help.

I am asking everyone who reads my blog to please pray for the people of Southeastern Louisiana, that we may be able to recover, and to do so quickly.

Friday, August 12, 2016

A year has passed since I started back to school, and I know, I haven't done very well in upkeeping my blog. I do apologize.

Monday, August 15, 2016, starts the new fall semester at Southeastern Louisiana University. It also starts my fourth semester.

Spring 2016 I took English 303 which was English Literature II. This past summer I took Philosophy 313, and this fall I have two classes. I am taking English 380 Creative Writing: Drama and English 484 Topics in Writing: the Novel.

In English 380 we will be writing a one-act play. Now I am in trouble. I have never written a play, much written a one-act play. oh no... The book we are using is Dialogue by Robert McKee. I told a former co-worker, that for my one-act play, I was going to title it: Laura and Her Red Soled Shoes. She has a pair of Louis Vuitton's with some bling on top. They're cute, but I wouldn't pay over $600 for a pair of shoes. I don't care who the designer is.

I was telling my friend Jeanette about the one-act play, and I was thinking of doing a comedy piece on my neighbor. I don't know. I will have to wait to see what the teacher has us do. oh boy...

In English 484 we will be writing a novel. We will have 3 1/2 months to accomplish this. At the end of the class, if your novel is ready, he will suggest where you can submit it for publication. For this class we have to read Carrie (ick) by Stephen King and his memoir On Writing. I'm not a King fan so this will be a difficult class for me.

Although I am slowing working on a story, I won't be using it for class. Until I think it is ready for publication, I don't want anyone else reading it, but my friend Alara. She reads and then critiques for me. She's honest without being harsh.

Sine I returned to school in Fall 2015, I have taken three classes - 2 English and 1 Philosophy, and I have earned an A in all three classes. This is good for my GPA. I need a good GPA.

Saturday, February 13, 2016

The new semester started one week early this year, because the university decided to give the students the whole week off for Mardi Gras. We will end the same time as usual in May, which is good. Otherwise, it will be a shorter break between spring and summer semesters.

This semester, I am taking English 303, which is British Literature II. It should really be titled British Poetry.

We do have to read Emma by Jane Austen. I am a JA fan, but not a fan of Emma. Emma, the character, is an obnoxious little toad. I saw the movie with Gwenyth Paltrow as Emma. If that had been my first introduction to Jane Austen, I would not want to read or watch anything else. And in the book, she is more conceited and obnoxious. Jane Austen was right, Emma is a character that only she could love. grr...boo...and hiss...

I have to do an author presentation. The author is Seamus Heaney. He is an Irish author who won the Nobel Prize in 1995. He lived from 1939 to 2013. There will be a post on him later as it gets closer to the time of my presentation in late April.

This class is not as fun as last semester's class but I am still learning stuff. That is the point of earning a BA in English with a concentration in creative writing.

So, stay tuned, and you will hear more about my journey in earning my BA and about the new story I have started today.

Thursday, December 24, 2015

When the class arrived for the final we were missing two students. One student was given accommodations earlier and the other student was always late for class. Was wondering if he was going to show up or not.

So, our professor gave us a mock up of how to read the grades we got for the semester. We already knew what each component of class was worth, but he listed everything on one page. Our short story was worth half of the semster grade, which equaled 500 points. There were 4 other components that were worth 100 points each, and two worth 50 points each.

First we read over his critique of our short story and the grade we got for the short story. As always, I had problems with commas. They do not like me and I am beginning to take it personally. Then we got the semester grade sheet. Then he went over the final. After all of that, he announces, that if we are happy with our semester grade we did not have to take the final. If we were going that route, we were to signed the semester grade sheet acknowledging our semester grade, we are happy with it and we aren't taking the final. He also said, if we have a grade with the word "BORDERLINE" following it, he suggested we take the final. It may bump you up to the next grade depending on how well you did. It could not hurt you. He strongly suggested to take the final if you were borderline.

I was borderline. I had a B+, and I had worked very hard all semester long to earn an A in the class.

At the beginning of the semester, there were 20 students. We finally ended up with 16 students after the final drop day. One young man dropped after the first two days of class. The last one was a young lady on the very last day of dropping without receiving an F on your report card.

15/16 students showed up for the final. Seven of us decided to take the final. Just as we were getting starting, half an hour after the final started, the boy who was always late showed up. He too took the final. The final consisted of two parts. The first part was to write dialog. He gave us the picture of a couple, a head shot. She was a blonde and he had medium brown hair. The requirements for the dialog was each person had to have three separate pieces of dialog, they were both attorneys and they were at a wedding reception. This was the minimum. If there were others in the piece that were talking, that's good too, but the two people in the picture, had to speak three separate times each. He said, of course if we wanted to, we could write more. He had also told us on the last day of class if we wanted to, we could bring our laptops to class for the final. I'm so glad I did.

I ended up writing a 1 1/2 page flash fiction. I would post it here, but I am going to submit it to a literary magazine, and they won't accept it, if it has been published somewhere else, including my blog. Once I get it accepted somewhere, and the rights revert back to me, I will publish it on my blog.

I received an email from my professor telling me that my dialog was the best in the class. I received an A+ on my final, and that I earned an A in the class. That just made my day, month, and year. I am so excited I did so well after being out of school for so long. I graduated December 14, 1991.

So, as the year ends, I look back on all of the things that have happened to me. I started working for Southeastern Louisiana University. I have gone back to school to earn a second BA. And I have earned an A in my first class back. Now, if I can only continue to do so each semester, I will be in fantastic shape.

Wednesday, December 9, 2015

This summer I decided to go back to school and earn another BA. This time, a BA in English with a concentration in creative writing. I applied to Southeastern Louisiana University, in Hammond, LA, and I was accepted. Due to finances, I can only take one or two classes per semester. I took one this fall semester.

Because I started so late in the application process, I had to take whatever class was available. What was available was English 372 Creative Writing. Perfect!!! Just what I wanted. A writing class. It has been a very good class. I have learned a lot, read a lot and wrote a lot.

Fall classes ended last week, and this week is finals week. My class final is tomorrow. I'm praying I do well. I am aiming for an A in the class. One girl could care less. She'll take whatever she gets, and if she has to redo the class, oh well. No big deal. No big deal? I don't believe it. I'm so glad I'm not only an adult, but a grown-up and know the difference.

I will, over the next month, write about the class and what I learned and what I did.

We read short stories and flash fictions out of The Story and Its Writer. Some of the stories were really good such as A Rose for Miss Emily and others that were just awful (my opinion) such as Girl. As we read how short stories are done and what can be done with a short story we learn what we can do.

There is plenty more to write and I will continue to tell you, I hope you enjoy it.

Tuesday, December 16, 2014

Thank you for following and reading my blog over the last several years. I know I don't blog as much as others do, but I don't want to overload you with information or clog up your email account. With that said, I am looking for additional followers for my blog. Right now I have only 24 followers and would love to have 100 or more. One hundred followers is my goal, but would love more.

This is what I am going to do. Once I hit 100 followers, I will be holding a raffle. What kind of raffle you ask? Is it for a book, or a bookmark or some other fancy thing you may loose? Nope! None of that.

Once I reach 100 followers I will hold two raffles. One for the men and one for the women. For each person who wins, I will use their name in my current WIP [work in progress]. It will be your first and last name for a character, and you can decide if you wish to be a bad character or a good character. If you have an unusual name, that is fine. You will just need to give me the definition and pronunciation for it. I may incorporate that piece of information into the story line. I won't know until someone wins.

So please, ask your friends and family members to follow my blog. I write only clean romance stories. I am working on a Christmas themed anthology. There will be four or five stories for the anthology. The first one I am working on is a Regency Romance.